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Here's What Happens If You Brake During a Turn While Riding

Our series of fail riding clips that come with a lesson to learn continues with this one that shows you, beginner motorcyclists, why you should not brake during a turn.
Rider lowsiding because of braking 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from YouTube
As a car driver, misjudging your corner entry speed could be corrected by braking a bit more while heading towards the apex of the turn. Depending on speed, the car might understeer in such conditions, but it should end up well after all.

If you switch to a motorcycle, one of the major skills you have to unlearn is braking during cornering. You see, the only thing that keeps your bike the right end up is the gyroscopic force that develops in each of the wheels when they turn. It's the same as with a toy spindle, but with the rotation on a horizontal axis.

Now, when you are cornering on a motorcycle, you are always fighting against that gyroscopic force that tries to keep the bike up through countersteering and leaning. If you grab the brakes during this time, you'll slow down the wheels' spin, which in turn will weaken the aforementioned stay-up-force.

You'll still be countersteering and leaning to take the corner, but with the gyro-meter going down, you'll soon follow and bite the dust in a textbook low-side.

Just as this rider in the video here does. He starts turning but, for some reason thinks he won't make it and grabs a handful of front brake. This blocks the front wheel and only makes the falling process quicker. Luckily he was wearing riding equipment and escaped with some minor scratches.

In such cases, you should better lean more while cutting the throttle just a tiny bit instead of grabbing the brakes. But of course, it's better to judge your entry speed before entering a corner and stay within speed limits. Especially on roads you don't know.

Also, never hit your brakes hard from the begining if you don't have ABS on your bike. Start a bit slower at first, let the weight shift to the front wheel and then start applying more pressure on the lever. Learn to brake before learning to go fast.

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